The Need Has Always Been There
by Mayet
Summary: Naruto SGA Crossover Don't own either! Summary: "The need has always been there. The tingling desire to Tsukonomi McKay into next week."What if John were an Uchiha. Now continued! Chapter 6: Mild swearing!
1. Chapter 1

**_The Need Has Always Been There_**

_**Summary: What if John Sheppard was an Uchiha…**_

**3333333333**

The sun had just barely risen over the Now-Not-So-Lost-Anymore City of Atlantis, and everyone was still peacefully asleep. Well, everyone except for one overbearing scientist in particular, who couldn't help but call in a meeting out of nowhere, thus disturbing a large number of expedition members in their much-needed slumbering. This led a very disgruntled Ronon to the conference room, where he found his equally irritated group of peers, consisting of Dr. Weir, Teyla, Dr. Zelenka, Major Lorne, and to his great surprise Colonel Caldwell as well. Apparently, McKay had stopped the Deadalus from it's departure, and beckoned it's commanding officer back down onto the planet.

"Mornin'," Ronon grunted.

A few disbelieving snorts were his only answer.

"Where's Sheppard?" he asked, once he noticed that the basis' 2IC wasn't present yet.

"Not here," McKay hissed angrily.

"Probably ignoring Rodney's call, and sleeping in," Zelenka added. "Like we all would've liked to do, on a Sunday."

"Or go meditating," Teyla chimed in.

"Or with more paperwork piling on our desk," Dr. Weir finished, eyeing McKay in a way that clearly said 'this better be important'.

"Oh, please. You won't be saying that in a moment." McKay waved their protests off with a flick of his hand.

Ronon raised an eyebrow at him, but moved to sit beside Teyla anyway. On the Athosian's other side was Sheppard's free seat. Opposite to him would be, if he was there, Colonel Caldwell, obviously annoyed judging by the way he tapped his fingers against the table. Beside him sat Major Lorne, the second highest ranking, permanently stationed officer in Atlantis. He was massaging his temples in an effort to do both, stay awake and relaxed at being woken up so early when he didn't have to.

McKay stood in the middle of the room, ready to give his presentation.

Dr. Weir, sitting at the head of the table, showed barely any sign of sleep, and Ronon quessed that she had been awake and working already when McKay had called them into the conference room. She was calmly sitting upright in her chair, while everyone else was slumped over. Her lips were pressed in a thin lign to cenvey her distress at having been summoned here, and her concern as to what reasons might have provoked Rodney to do so. Her hands lay still on the table, fingers interwined as if to prevent her from fidgeting.

And indeed, Ronon found them to be clenched together a little.

A few minutes passed by, and McKay was about ready to send a search party out for Lt. Colonel Sheppard, when the door slid open to reveal said Air Force officer, looking quite odd. He was wearing navy blue pants that went down till halfway over his shank. From there to his sandal-clad feet he was wearing bandages. A black, skin-tight shirt covered his chest, and two black strapes were tied around a part of his upper arm. His chest was heving as if he had just run a steeplecase.

Odder than that was only that he was soaked to the bone!

Ronon raised both his eyebrows this time. While coming here he had noticed that it was raining heavily outside, but even the balconies were covered. Wondering how exactly his friend had gotten himself so wet, and what exactly he was wearing, he watched intently as John calmly made his way to his seat, leaving a trail of water droplets on his journey. As the Lt.Colonel walked past him, Ronan noticed that there was a symbol on his shirt at the nape of his neck. He narrowed his eyes, and realized it to a fan. A red and white one. He wondered what that could mean, but was distracted as Sheppard slumped into his chair.

John's eyes were focused on McKay, and for a moment Ronon thought he saw a flash of red in them…

**33333333333333333**

John Sheppard was a very patient man, and quite the laid-back guy if you thought about it. He rarely snapped out of control, but one scientist of the Atlantis expedition had been testing his self-control rather constantly since he met him. Of course, said scientist was none other than Dr. Rodney McKay. John had come to care for the ego-centrical know-it-all, but that didn't mean his attitude got any less on the soldier's nerves. He had been peacefully training outside- the only place he could train without revealing his secret to the whole expedition- when the cracking of his radio, and McKay's cheery voice had distracted him. And while he had been able to fend off the rain with a water-style jutsu, it had proven to be completely useless against a whole ocean.

Thus, John had found himself not only almost drowned because of McKay's sudden outburst of euphoria, but also pretty wet. Once he had finally heaved himself out of the water, and back into his quarters, he had had just enough time to drop his jounin vest, before he knew McKay would have a marine squad come looking for him. Therefore, he was now sitting, dripping with the whole conference room staring at him. He cursed under his breath as he felt his bloodline limit activate without his consent, and quickly 'switched' it off.

The need had always been there. The tingling desire to Tsukonomi McKay into next week!

But it had never been so tempting…

**_End of 'The Need Has Always Been There'!_**

**_A/N: Just a short fic that has put itself into my head, and now that I've written it down, I'll sleep peacefully again.  
I hope you liked it!_**

**_Please leave a Review!_**


	2. Comatose

**The Need Has Always Been There  
****  
Fandom: Naruto; SGA (some SG1)  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the Stargate series (any of them)  
Rating: T  
Pairings: not sure yet, maybe none  
Spoilers: should be none  
Warnings: there will probably be some maiming in the future of this fic, possibly cursing etc.**

Summary: The Need had always been there. The tingling desire to tsukonomi McKay into next week... What if John Sheppard was an Uchiha? And what if his shinobi past caught up with him? Naruto Stargate Crossover

**Chapter 2: Comatose**

The next morning Ronon could be found waiting impatiently for John Sheppard to arrive at the training room. That wasn't an unusual sight to see as Ronon Dex had always been very peculiar about his sparring sessions with, well, basically anyone, and Lt. Colonel Sheppard had never been known to be very enthusiastic about them. It was normal to see the military head of Atlantis run late for those occasions, and Ronon usually took it in a stride, a smug smirk plastered on his face.

But today, Ronon Dex was even more impatient than usual.

Because there was nothing 'usual', normal about this sparring session. Nothing usual about this day at all. Or yesterday. Yesterday, Ronon had observed something rather unusual about his closest friend in the whole City of Atlantis. He'd been dressed strangely. He'd been soaked to the bone for no reason, because unless he'd made a quick dip into the ocean there was no way to accidentally get that soaked in Atlantis. Then there was that strange symbol on the back of his shirt that gave Ronon the shivers, and he knew, he just knew that there was a meaning behind that fan. And last but not least, that flash. That flash of red in John Sheppard's eyes that had made it difficult to sleep during the night. He'd told himself that he'd probably just imagined it, but to no avail.

His instinct was telling him differently. And Ronon's instinct had never been wrong.

In the end, he'd stopped turning in his bed when sleep had so obviously refused to come to him, and instead started to look forward to this training session. He'd made up his mind to ask Sheppard all those questions running amok in his head, so his worries would be eased, and because the sheer curiousity was driving him mad. For a few minutes in the darkness, Ronon had entertained the thought that it might be something alien that got into the city, and had taken possession of his friend. He'd gone as far as to reach for his gun, and go warn the night patrol, but again he had trusted his instinct, which had told him that it was completely Sheppard.

Maybe Sheppard was an alien, who knew, but how could Ronon not grant him the chance to explain?!

So, he had decided to wait. To confront Sheppard during their sparring session, and ask him about that weird conference. But Sheppard hadn't shown up yet, and Ronon was getting ever more infirm and weary. Still, maybe he'd just forgotten it was today, or at this hour. That seemed to be unlikely, but not impossible, and despite his weariness Ronon would rather think that was true, than… something else…

Nervously, Ronon played around with one of the sticks he and Sheppard used for their sparring sessions. The Satedan had been trying to teach his friend a game from his world, a fighting game. He had to admit that the Earthling had gotten better, the increase in his abilities almost incredible in the last few weeks. In the end Ronon had always beaten him, but the Specialist was beginning to wonder if that wasn't the fact because Sheppard had been allowing him to win.

There had always been a strange quality about the apparent incompetence Sheppard had shown at fighting him. The Lt. Colonel had always moved with a certain grace that seemed to indicate a mugh higher skill than he was showing off. As if he had been holding back for some reason or other. This weird edge to his fighting style, Ronon had noticed, had lessened in the last few weeks, but had never totally disappeared.

"Ronon! It's John. Something's wrong with him!"

Teyla's sudden appearance at the door ripped him out of his thoughts. The athosian woman looked around frantically, her eyes were filled with concern. Once she spotted him, she gave a wave of her hand to indicate that he should follow her. Frowning in curiousity as well as further uneasiness, Ronon did exactly that, wondering if maybe John had been possessed by some sort of alien entity after all when she lead him to the infirmary.

Upon entering, they found everything to be very quiet. Only one bed was being used at the moment, and despite several people being gathered around it, Ronon could make out John's lean form quite clearly. The Lt. Colonel lay extremely still as everyone gazed down upon him. Unnaturally still. The rise and fall of his chest as the man breathed was hard to see, and the medical staff had apparently thought it wise to give him some extra oxigen.

As Ronon and Teyla approached, it became appart that all the leading staff of Atlantis was gathered around John's bed. Even Colonel Caldwell had beamed down from the Deadalus. They had postponed their departure after McKay's enthusiastic debriefing about some incredible lantian device or other. Ronon had barely listened to the scientist, oddly captivated by the strange appearance of his other friend.

"What happened?" the Specialist asked in a gruff voice.

Dr. Beckett looked up from the chart he was holding.

"We don't know. He didn't appear for the check-up I had ordered after yesterday's… uhm…strange events, and when I sent Lorne to look for him," the scottsman explained, indicating towards the major, "he found him like this in his bed. We brought him here immediately, and I ran several tests, but, for now, all I can say is that he seems to be comatose."

"You mean he is unconscious?" Teyla inquired further.

"No, it's deeper than that, but… look at this," the doctor answered, pointing at a monitor that seemed to be registering Sheppard's brain waves. They seemed impossibly active for a comatose man. "It's like he's dreaming, but he can't wake up. It's unlike anything I've ever seen…"

"Okay," Elizabeth said, taking charge. "Keep working on it. If something or someone is doing this, I want to know how, and how to reverse it. Run any test you deem necessary. We need our military leader back. I'll go warn everyone. Major Lorne, question the night patrol."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Maybe they've noticed something out of the ordinary. Or maybe someone else has," the leader of the expedition suggested, hope clear in her voice, as she turned to leave. Ronon took this as his cue. He had wanted to talk about it with Sheppard first, but that was out of question now, and maybe what he saw could help. He opened his mouth to state his observations of the previous day, but the words died on his lips when an earth-shattering scream that obviously originated just outside the doors, resounded through the halls.

Colonel Caldwell and Major Lorne sprang into action immediately as did Ronon, Teyla and McKay- although the latter did so by letting out a squeak, and a panicked "What?!". They ran outside to find Katie Brown, a hand over her chest as if to calm her racing heart, staring down at the bodies of two limp marines. Carson was with them a moment later, all of them suspecting that whatever got Sheppard had spread, but instead Carson's eyes widened in horror as he shook his head at Elizabeth.

"They're dead," he stated in an even tone. "I'll do an autopsy, maybe it's got something to do with Colonel Sheppard anyway, and it just wasn't so succsessful with him."

Elizabeth nodded mutely.

"And have some of your men run those tests on Sheppard," Colonel Caldwall suggested.

"Major Lorne, if you could…now…" Dr. Weir was fighting for her voice.

"Immediately, Ma'am," the major replied, and reached for his come. "All personel on duty last night, report to the conference room immediately. Sir, ma'am."

With that, he hastened off.

"I'll see if I can help," Colonel Caldwell announced after a moment. "I'm no use here, sitting at Sheppard's bedside. I'll ask Hermiot to run a scan of the city with the sensors of the Deadalus. Maybe something shows up."

"Yeah, and I'll do the same with the city's internal scanners," Rodney leaped at the possibility to get out of the infirmary. He wasn't very good company for a comatose. He didn't see the point.

"I'll grab some marines, and search the city for something strange," Ronon decided, all thoughts of telling gone with this new threat.

"I'll come with you," Teyla said, grabbing his shoulder.

Elizabeth gave them all nods of understanding respectively, then turned back to look through the open doors into the infirmary one more time. Seeing John lying helpless, immobile on some bed had her blood run cold with dread. If whatever had rendered him this way, had also killed the marines, then this would only be the beginning. Then they needed him, because he was the only surivor, the only one who might be able to tell them what was going on.

And he came in handy in a crisis, she thought with a smile.

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(meanwhile, in John's head)

_It was dark. Pitch black, in fact._

_There was a rustling somewhere to his side, and John heaved a sigh. He knew what this meant. He had arrived. He was there, in this darkest, most dangerous spot in his subconscious. The place he dreaded most. His one true fear was contained in this very place, and their dance had only just begun. It was strange, to know where he was, know what was waiting for him, and yet being unable to see it._

_Everything was black. He was standing in nothingness, or at least that's what he thought nothingness would look like. What did he know, though. He'd seen a lot of things in his life- two lifes, one before and one after he joined the air force, and he'd joined it only as a breather. Had agreed to become their liason only to get away from his other life for a little while. Then Atlantis came. He'd seen a lot of things since, but nothing he had not seen._

_He shook his head. These thoughts would lead him nowhere._

_Another rustle, and metal hitting metal with a clear 'ding' sound._

_Heaving another sigh, he turned to his left, and moved towards the sound. Soon, he started to make out a shape through the darkness. Something darker against the dark. Something more black against the blackness of the background. He almost chuckled at this perception of the shape. How could something, anything be 'more' black than black itself, than the absence of any and all light?!_

_It was ridiculous._

_It was moving._

_It was always moving, but now more so than normally. John took a deep breathe, and suddenly the shape opened it's eyes. There it was, the famous, dreaded Magekyo Sharingan, looking at him, and, with a flash of annoyance, he was looking back with the same red and black gaze. The same blood-red eyes. The same black shapes around the pupil. The same contrast between the iris, and the white background._

_The exact same eyes._

_His eyes narrowed in time with those of the shape's. More rustling. More 'ding' noises. Then groaning. And furious hisses. And then light fell upon the shape. No, not light. There was no light in this place. Whatever light was still left in him did not reach this place. Could not reach this place where it was burried. He would not let it, because it would use anything as a weapon to get free. His deepest fear, it made John almost chuckle. No, no light fell upon the shape. The shape just suddenly became clear, a contrast to the nothingness around it._

_And he was staring back at himself._

_There was nothing human about those features, though, but their outward appareance. Everything else was the furious, hungry, evil scowl of a caged animal. Ready to lash out, and take control the moment the heavy iron chains of his mind let up enough. The moment they snapped, even if just for a moment. Just a split-second, and it would be free, and there would be no stopping it._

The Beast Within.

_The chains had been loosened, and the Beast was struggling to get free, but John couldn't let that happen. He would stare at the Beast, and subdue it until it was put back to sleep again. Sighing once more, he sat himself infront of the struggling beast, staring with his Mangekyo Sharingan, willing it to fall back into slumber, but the Beast was strong. It would not be easy. It would be a long fight._

'You won't hurt my friends. You're not getting free,' _John vowed._

_And the Beast roared._

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_(back with the other, several hours later in the conference room)_

"No one has seen or heard anything strange last night," Colonel Caldwell reported back from the interviews he and Major Lorne had with the night shift. "And Hermiot didn't find anything out of the ordinary either."

"Of course not," McKay snorted. "He's an Asgard. He'd never notice the obvious."

"And what is 'the obvious', Rodney?" Teyla asked patiently. "Because we couldn't find anything out of the ordinary either."

Ronon grunted in agreement.

"This!" Rodney shouted, turning his computer chart so that everyone could see it.

"What exactly are we looking at Rodney?" Elizabeth questioned further. "All I can see is a model of the city, and a lot of blinking dots which, I suppose, are the life signs of everyone in Atlantis."

"Exactly, but you see there are too many," Rodney pointed out. "Or, to be more precise, there's exactly three too many. Even including the Deadalus personel."

"We've got an intruder?" Major Lorne asked.

"If you'd listened to me, you'd know that that would be three intruders. Plural."

"But the point still stands. There is someone- okay, several someones here that shouldn't be, right?" Elizabeth wondered. "And apparently, they're pretty good at hiding because Ronon, Teyla, and the marines didn't find anything."

"Well, they wouldn't," Rodney amended. "Not in a city this big. Especially if those three people don't move as a group, and stay out of habitated areas as much as possible. Or disguise themselves. I mean, seriously, who knows every face in Atlantis?!"

The doors swung open that moment, and Carson came running in, the look on his face slipping between horror, disgust, and something akin to admiration- or maybe it was just amazement. Elizabeth's eyebrow arched up in question, but Carson couldn't say anything more about Sheppard's condition yet. Instead, he stated that he had completet the autopsies on both victims.

"It's incredible. There were only two tiny, circular wounds in the men's neck. One might miss them if one doesn't know what to search for. Especially if marines had longer hair. It looks almost like they've been bitten by very long canines or-"

"What, you mean like vampires?" Rodney panicked.

"Or," Carson spoke up again, glaring at the scientist who had interrupted him so rudely, "they've been hit by something long, thin, and pointy. My suggestion would be something built like a needle, only bigger."

"But how can a needle kill?" Ronon grunted.

"I actually have a theory about that," Carson replied gravely. "On Earth, there is this… technique. Alternative medicine. It's called acupuncture. It's a technique of inserting and manipulating a special type of needles into specific points of the body (1), most commonly used to relieve pain. In asian martial arts there are often techniques that are kept secret, because they can be used to kill, and, I suspect, that this might be a special style of acupuncture that does essentially the same."

A moment of shocked silence followed this statement.

"Is that what put Sheppard into coma?" Ronon asked.

"Could be," the doctor admitted.

**End of chapter 2!**

**A/N: Well, I decided to continue this story, and I finally found a point from where to start. I'm sorry that I can't write Carson's scottish accent, but if I tried it would only end in tears, so please bear with me.  
Please leave a comment, and tell me what you think.**

**(1) all information about acupuncture taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia**


	3. Three's the Charm

**The Need Has Always Been There**

**Chapter 3: Three's the Charm**

Silence reigned surpreme in the Conference Room, since no one knew where to begin. They'd just found out that there were three intruders in the City of the Ancestors, and they had no idea how those had managed to get past security. Furthermore Atlantis' military leader was bedridden for reasons unknown, and there was as of yet no way to tell expedition members apart from the surplus individuals.

Ronon fidgeted in his seat.

He noticed the curious glance Teyla shot him as she was the only one who'd noticed his strange behaviour. The satedan soldier didn't quite know what to do with that little bit of extra information he had stored away in his brain. It might be important, seeing as his instict was telling him that these two things were connected, but somehow he couldn't shake the feeling that anything that would undermine the earthlings trust in John might just lead to a bad end for this story.

And they couldn't afford that.

"Is something the matter, Ronon?" Teyla asked, apparently fed up with his strange moodswings.

Ronon was about to reply when Dr. Weir got a call from the infirmary. Apparently there had been some strange sighting, and three more corpses had been found in the near vicinity. Whoever these intruders were, they always seemed to be one step ahead of security, seemed to always have the upper hand. Their attacks were situated around the infirmary which only strengthened Ronon's belief that this had something to do with Sheppard.

Maybe he'd been possessed after all…

They moved to the infrimary quickly and quietly, and for once McKay wasn't the only one who was fidgeting nervously. Ronon's weird behaviour also got the marine squad they'd taken with them as a precaution all worked up and edgy. Lorne sent every one of his men a stern glance, but it didn't seem to be much use. Something that got the satedan into a state, could not just be overlooked by the earthlings.

They entered the medical bay to find almost the same scene as upon their first entry. Sheppard was sprawled unnervingly still on the only occupied bed in the room. Although most of the medical staff had gone off to have lunch- what with only one patient to tend to- or were busy doing autopsies, Ronon could only make out two differences. The first thing was that there was coffee all over the floor. The other was one of the nurses sitting on the chair beside John's bed, her body wrecked by shivers and surpressed sobs for no apparent reason. One of her hands was clutching the sheet of Sheppard's bed, the other had fisted into the flak jakcet of the marine standing helplessly lost beside her.

Marines, Ronon had realized shortly after arriving on Atlantis, were men like him. Give them something to shoot, and they'll be happy as a cucumber to solve the problem for you. Emotional was not their cup of tea. Or coffee… Reflecting about it for a few seconds, he came to the conclusion that maybe John Sheppard should've joined the marine corps: he was a failure at emotions as well.

"What happened here?" Dr. Weir demanded to know once she'd taken in the unruly state of the room, and one of it's occupants.

"She says she saw someone, ma'am," the marine replied instantly, noticing the no-nonesense, I-am-the-leader tone of voice the diplomat only used in especially dire situations- or when she was really irritated at someone, usually John. "One of the intruders."

"It was h-h-horr-rrible," the shaking woman spoke up, hiding her face behind her hands.

"What was?" McKay asked already slightly annoyed. Considering what a scaredy-cat he was, he really should show a little bit more patience and understanding for the poor woman.

"Ev-veryone had l-left for lunch, or to ex-examine the b-bodies," the woman started, slowly gaining more confidence as she went. "I w-was left to tend to th-the Colonel. I turned my b-back only for a minute- I swear!- but when I turned back it-t was there, standing at the head end of Colonel Sheppard's bed…"

"What was, my love?" Carson queried gently as he walked over to take the position of the- very grateful- marine, enveloping the nurse in a half-hug for a bit of comfort.

"I-I'm not sure- it l-looked human," she muttered quietly.

"What was it doing?" the doctor continued the interrogation in a voice so soft, the others almost didn't hear him.

"It stood there, leaning over the Colonel. It was wearing a jacket with a hood, I couldn't see it's face," the nurse said energetically. "I couldn't even tell if it was a man or a woman. It was…caressing Colonel Sheppard's face with a gloved hand, while the other was poised above his chest with a… Oh my God, it had a knife, it was going to stab him! If I hadn't turned around, and lost my hold on the coffee… it… oh my God! It had a knife!"

"Where is it gone?!" Ronon interrupted the woman's hystericals, getting rather impatient himself now.

"Nowhere."

What do you mean?" Teyla spoke up again.

"Yeah, it must've gone somewhere!" Rodney added indignantly.

"Nowhere. It just… puff," she made a helpless gesture as she said this, "and it was gone… into thin air, as if it had never been there."

There was an amazed calmness in the nurse's voice that creeped Ronon out.

"But why didn't it kill you?" Elizabeth wondered. "I mean, assuming that those three intruders are responsible for the corpses, they've done it before. Why those marines, and not you?"

Silence fell between them once more as the nurse shrugged. She didn't understand it either, none of them did, although McKay suggested that they were psychopaths who chose their victims on a whim. The nurse had supposedly just gotten lucky. They had discussed what to do with Sheppard for a while, since it was obviously after him, when the nurse remembered something else. The form of the knife had appeared strange to her. Hearing her describe it as sort of triangular with a shaft, and a circle at it's end as if it was made to be used on a rope, Ronon had to agree that that was a strange form for a knife.

He'd never seen anything like it, and neither had Teyla.

"This doesn't do us any good," Elizabeth finally decided. "Major Lorne, have Colonel Sheppard taken to the prison cell. He should be safest there. Put some marines on guard, and tell them that only Doctor Beckett or one of the nurses has access to the Colonel until I say something else."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Rodney, get Radek, and see if you can modify the life signs detector to tell our crew apart from the intruders-"

"That's never gonna work!" McKay complained.

"Try anyway," Weir told him firmly. "You're a genius. If anyone can find a way, it's you- with Radek's help! Now go!"

Uncertain whether he should feel flattered or insulted, Rodney was out the door, before Weir could even turn to Colonel Caldwell, asking him to beam all non-essential personel onboard the Deadalus, and take it into orbit. Then she ordered Chuck to put her on the loudspeakers, and ordered everyone into their quarters with the exception of their military personel, arguing that the intruders would be the lone dots, or possibly a group of three since marines always travelled in pairs. Ronon and Teyla decided to walk Elizabeth back to the Control Room before joining the marines on guard duty.

"I have to inform Stargate Command about this. General O'Neill and Mr. Woolsey were due to come visit us tomorrow for the review. I have to tell them that Atlantis is not a safe place," Dr. Weir informed them.

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(inside John's head again)

He was getting flashes again. That was always the most unpleasant part of this procedure- not that it happened very often, but still. The Beast was trying to weaken him, to breach his defenses by showing him the most unpleasant snippets of his past, and some that filled him with yearning as he remembers. It hadn't worked the last time they had performed this dance, and John would make damn sure that it wouldn't work this time either.

He was an Uchiha. He had a reputation to defend, damn it!

_He was just eight year old when sensei Iruka knocked onto the door of his father's home, having come to tell him about the massacre at the Uchiha compund. His mother had left him with his dad because she hadn't wanted to drag him into her world, a world full of blood and pain, simply because of a family name. He was mostly an accident anyway. His mother, Uchiha Fumiko, had been on a mission in the states when she'd met his father, and they'd hit it off immediately._

_But his mother had loved him, the Sandaime had assured him of that._

_He'd believed it without a doubt. Only a loving mother would've given him up to keep him happy._

_Sensei Iruka had also brought a letter with him. A letter from his mother. It had been found with her last will. It had broken his heart with happiness and grief at the same time. He'd gone to live with some of his mother's relatives after that (or so he had told his father), and that was probably when his relationship with his american family had begun to be strained and awkward. Still, he hadn't regretted it._

_He'd enrolled in the Academy, after a lengthy discussion with the Sandaime that he didn't need to. He'd made it Genin a year later, two more years and he was a Chunin. That was when ANBU had first showed interest in him. Not only was he a quick learner, but he had also learned to control his sharingan from Hatake Kakashi himself. The man who'd never accepted a team until a couple of years after their first meeting when he'd been nine years old. The moment he'd hit Jounin somewhere between fifeteen and sixteen they'd made him an offer._

He'd accepted. The tattoo that still lingered on his skin was proof of that.

_He'd lost his first team a week into their third mission. They had been trying to find out the whereabouts of another ones of Orochimaru's hideouts. That had been the first time he'd met Kabuto(and some of his… experiments), and had to fight against medical jutsu used in battle. He'd had no experience in that department,and his sharingan hadn't been much use in that particular fight, except for avoiding purposes._

_But Kabuto had moved fast, and had gotten a couple of good hits. He had switched his sharingan off, expecting to be captured and experimented on if Orochimaru found out that there was another Uchiha around. His captain had saved him, and distracted Kabuto long enough for their medic to stitch up most of his wounds. He'd lost in the end, and their medic had called a retreat. After all, all they had wanted was to know where the hideout was, and now they needed to get that information to the Godaime, she'd argued._

_It hadn't saved her._

John shook his head, trying to clear it. He'd barely made it out alive himself.

_Then there had been Team 7. Or rather Team Kakashi. Uzumaki Naruto with his aspiration to become Hokage (at the time John had almost laughed at this, knowing that the boy wasn't even on the list of possible candidates- yet as he had to amend). Haruno Sakura who'd been so helplessly in love with his cousin as a kid, and had grown to be an incredible medical ninja. And Sai of course; the mysterious Root member who'd joined the team as the new Sasuke. John had first met them when both Kakashi and Tenzou (known to them as Yamato) had been in hospital, recovering from their latest missions with them, and Tsunade had chosen him to replace them._

_He remembered having commented on how that team seemed to wear out it's team leaders very fast._

_Yamato had only chuckled, and told him that "apparently (he) was next in line"._

_Kakashi had welcomed him to the club._

_Six weeks later found him in bed right beside the two of them, wiser now that he knew how missions with that team always seemed to escalate. Still, at least they'd brought Sasuke back- well, dragged him back, literally. Sakura had almost died, and would be out of comission for months. She never knew that their mission had been a success until she woke up from coma three months later._

Sasuke had spent the next year in a very dark prison cell, and had been put under surveillance as he tried to reintegrate himself into their society. John closed his eyes, pushing the memories back into the farthest recesses of his mind. He would not let the creature win. It would not have that satisfaction. His friends were there, and they needed him to be himself, not this Beast.

"You're not getting out," he insisted.

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(Atlantis, Control Room)

"Sheppard is what?" General Jack O'Neill queried again. Ronon had intended to join the marines once they'd gotten Dr. Weir safely back into the Control Room, but the connection had already been established by then(curtesy from Chuck), and something about the general's reaction had strung a chord with him. Jack O'Neill had the reputation to be a very laid back guy, not unlike John himself, but after receiving the warning from Dr. Weir he had started to become about as fidgety as Ronon had been since last night.

"He's unconscious, General, or at least in a state very similar to it. We suspect our intruders to be responisble for that as they are definitely after him," Weir replied.

"And the nurse described them as… what was the word- humanoid, cream-coloured coat, and a triangular-shaped blade?"

"Yes." Now the diplomat was getting impatient. "She also said that the person looked up when he or she heard her scream. Apparently their faces look like they're made of painted porcelain, but that may just be part of an armour or a camouflage."

"And the… creature…" Something about how he had to strain his voice to say that word made Ronon's ears perk up. Did the general know what it was? Did he know how Sheppard was connected to it? "The creature vanished into thin air, yes?"

"I know this must strain credulity, but that's what she said, yes, and I believe her," Dr. Weir told him sternly.

"So do I," General O'Neill muttered to himself for a moment, then his head shot up. "Give me twenty-four hours, and I'll have the problem sorted- or rather gotten someone who'll sort it for you…"

With that the connection broke, leaving everyone in stunned silence for the third time that day.

**End of chapter 3!**

**A/N: Well, this is the third chapter. John isn't waking up just yet. I plan for him to make a grand entrance later. I hope you liked it anyway, and please leave a comment!**


	4. Liaison

**The Need Has Always Been There**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any countries, cities, or organizations mentioned in this chapter.

**Chapter 4: Liaison**

He hated that he had to do this.

It wasn't the people that made him dislike this this whole process so much, no. They were quite nice people considering their profession… He usually just hated the reason behind him having to do this. Today was no exception. Trouble had to be enormous to get him to make such a decision, and this trouble was monumental. He shuddered at the mere thought of what the outcome of this precarious situation could be.

He hated doing this.

There was a reason why only a very selected few in the United States knew about this in the first place. What he had done to deserve the dubious honor of being one of them, he did not know. The United Nations kept this secret even from most of their own personel- not that he could blame them. Most people would panic at the thought that those warriors that had been dubbed war gods in past times were still out and about. The UN decided that such knowledge was best kept amongst a selected few; not even the President was to know, since he would come and go, and another person would sit in the Oval Office after a relatively short while. Each President had to agree to 'not knowing everything', and everyone who was told had to sign a Contract of Silence' which entailed a person's execution if he were to divulge the secret.

He wasn't sure he agreed with that policy. Any of them.

What he agreed to didn't matter, though, and he had to admit that it had been of great advantage that so few people knew in the past. That way he had been capable- with 'their' permission, of course- to send John Sheppard along with the expedition. The thougt hadn't crossed his mind until Dr. Weir had suggested it, and he had, after giving it a bit of thought, considered it a good idea.

It was always helpful to have a 'war god' with you when you decide to wander dangerous grounds.

Now, however, it had turned into a bit of a curse. He didn't blame John. How could he when it had been him who had convinced John to go in the first place?! He should've thought about the possibility of some of John's old enemies- which those guys probably were- to catch up with the man sooner rather than later. After all, even when one is sent to another country to act as a liaison with the UN headquarters in New York, one can never completely leave one's past behind.

Especially that kind of past.

When he had first encountered John he'd thought that the guy was just another hotshot pilot in the Air Force, and wonderd why they had practically dragged him to New York to meet up with him. He'd read the file, and thought he knew everything about John Sheppard. Then someone told him that the file had been made up. That the Major hadn't been part of the Air Force until a few weeks ago. And then they'd gone and told him who and what John Sheppard really was, and that the man would accompany him to the Antartica Research Base- of course, they hadn't told him that 'Sheppard' would fly the helicopter…

He'd almost gotten a heart attack when he'd found John reading the manual ten minutes before they were due to head off. Not to mention his literally blood-shot eyes with three spinning 'tomoe', or so John had called them. He'd explained a bit about his mother's family, the Uchiha, and about their kekkai genkai- their bloodline limit- the Sharingan. He'd see many strange sights since joining the SGC, but that there could be something this… magnificent, and threateningly dangerous on planet Earth, in a human…

He shook himself out of this reverie. There was no time to reminish now. He had a call to make. The expedition needed help, and quickly. Especially with John out like a light. He'd been warned that this could happen. John being one of the elites, he'd experienced the worst sides of his 'job'. This seemed to often create some sort of second personality which would consist of every low, evil impulse that ever passed the mind of such a person; a beast that needed to be controlled. People like John had to learn a special kind of meditation which would make him look like he'd slipped into a coma when in all reality he was trying to reign the Beast in.

Pressing the last number he waited. A chuckle almost left him when he thought about how what must be the only telefone in the entire village would go off. It didn't take long before she answered.

"What happened?" was the only greeting he got.

"Hello to you too, Tsunade-sama."

"You hardly called just to say 'hello', O'Neill-san," she commented non-plused.

"That's no excuse to drop formality, though, is it?" he asked back jokingly, but sobbered after a few seconds. "There's some trouble with John."

"What did Uchiha get himself into now?" the woman asked almost exasperated.

"He's meditating," Jack answered matter-of-factly, knowing the Hokage would understand the hidden meaning behind the words.

"Then he shouldn't be a danger to anyone. I don't understand…" Tsunade admitted, her tone puzzled.

"There have been a sighting of a person in a cream-coloured coat, wearing an animal-mask. He or she was poised over Shep- I mean, Uchiha, a knife in hand. And the SGC has been informed that there have been spotted three additional life signs in the city," Jack reported, his tone grave. "They need help."

This was followed by silence from the other end.

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It wasn't as if John was out cold completely. He was vaguely aware of what was happening around his body. Snippets of conversation sometimes drifted through the haze of his subconscious. He'd definitely heard a scream which meant that his friends were in some sort of danger while he was busy fighting himself. It made him rather impatient, and not for the first time he found out how difficult it was to stick by Rule 25 of the Shinobi Guide Book: never show emotion…

The Beast was smirking at him slightly.

It had grown weary and tired from their battle. It was still at a disadvantage, what with the chains holding it in place; the confines of it's mental prison. John took a deep breath, knowing that rushing through the procdure would only make him sloppy. Maybe it would solve the problem for a while, but it would be like putting stitches on gaping wounds. It would only make it worse in the end.

Patience was a virtue.

He had to remind himself of that a couple of times before he was ready again. He'd calmed down enough now to continue at a moderate pace. Imprison the Beast, then go help his friends- not the other way around. That other way would only make him a liability, would make him as dangerous as the enemy his friends were facing. He would suddenly become a danger to them, and that was not something he wished for.

He knew it had been a bad idea to go along on this trip.

This had to happen sooner or later, and considering his luck, he should've known that it would happen at such a dire time of need. He was not unaware of what kind of creature his friends were facing. He'd gotten most of the hysterical cries of the nurse- not that he blamed her for being hysteric; it was only to be expected after all. He'd heard of the knife and the mask, and how the 'creature' had gone like a shadow.

Masks and Shadows.

Oh yes, he knew exactly what kind of enemy his friends were going up against. And they needed him. They could not face this threat alone. Hopefully, this fight would be over soon, so that he could dedicate his time to the battle that was happening in the real world right now. They wanted him. They'd come here for no other reason, of that he was most certain. Of course, they might have been paid to kill someone else here, but by whom?!(1) The Five Great Nations wouldn't gain anything by killing someone on the expedition, and he rather doubted that anyone other than him had even heard of the Shinobi.

His musings were cut short by a groan.

The Beast was almost finished. It wouldn't take much longer to subdue it for the next few years. Sure, the desire to destroy something, or someone would return soon enough but it wouldn't get this bad in quite some time again. Which was a good thing, because it just wouldn't do to feel this way on a mission as it would not only endanger said mission but his own friends' lifes. The Beast did not distinguish between friends and foe, simply because in it's mind there was nothing to distinguish.

Friendship did not exist in it's mind.

John looked at the Beast. It's blood-red eyes half lidded, the tomoe spinning in lazy circles, it's gaze mostly averted to the ground. It tried to look at him again, to launch some last desperate attack, but it's eyes always fell back onto the non-existent floor. They were closing as it's body slumped, all of it's muscles relaxing, and the iron chains strengthening around the creature once more.

It's defiance deflating…

It was done.

"It's time to help my friends now," John murmured into the dark nothingness the creature returned to.

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There had been two more attacks during the rest of the last day and the night that followed. Seven people had died. Ronon very much doubted that anyone on Atlantis had gotten any sleep at all. Seeing as the attacks remained centered around the infirmary- where Sheppard supposedly still resided- Dr. Weir had ordered all non-essential personel to get into the jumpers, and fly to the Main Land. Teyla had gone with them to explain the situation to her people, and make sure everyone would find a place to stay before returning.

It had been a quiet night. There had been no sign of any form of attacks until, just after midnight, the newest bodies had been found. This time the attacker hadn't even bothered to remove the instruments of the murder, and they had found Doctor Beckett's theory to be correct: they were longer, bigger versions of your average needles. The knowledge that something so small could be used as such a perfect killing instrument sent shudders down Ronon's body in a way only the destruction of his planet had ever been capable of.

"It's getting out of hand," Dr. Weir commented as she watched the bodies of two young soldiers from Italy and France being transported down the hall towards the morgue.

"Was it ever in our hands?!" McKay shot back, sounding rather panicked.

"Rodney!"

"Sorry, sorry," the scientist mumbled. "It's just… this whole situation is making me…"

"We should think positively. The 24 hours General O'Neill asked for are almost over. Surely he is a man of his word," Teyla remarked, apparently trying to cheer everyone up. It worked as a small smile appeared on Dr. Weir's face, followed by a a nod. The smile wasn't allowed to stay long, however, as seconds after it had appeared, the radio cracked to life. Major Lorne had just informed them that his team had gotten into a fight with the mysterious attacker right infront of the holding cell, and that they needed back-up. Ronon cursed under his breath. They had obviously found out where Sheppard had been transferred to. The Specialist rushed down the halls to meet up with Lorne, judging by the sounds of footsteps behind him that Teyla and McKay were following him.

They arrived to a rather unusual sight, what with two marines drenched to the bone as if they had drowned on dry land. Lorne was checking them for a pulse, heaving a relieved sigh. The forth member of the major's team was standing a few feet away, shivering like mad, and staring straight ahead down the corridor. Lorne quickly strode over to them to give them a report.

"They've got a bit of oxygen starvation I'd say, but other than that they're fine. These creatures, though… they somehow control the elements. It made a few strange signs with it's hand, and all of a sudden two of my man are engulfed in a ball of water…" the marine reported with a slight note of desperation in his voice. Ronon couldn't blame him. How do you fight a magician, a demon, or whatever those creatures were. A power like that made them seem all but invincible!

"Are you alright?" he heard Teyla asked from somewhere to the side. Turning, he saw her standing beside the other marine in the room. It was a young man, almost a boy still. There was a loud crash, and nstead of answering with words, he continued to look wide-eyed down the hallway, raising an arm to point that way. Furrowing his brows, Ronon followed the finger with his gaze, and now even his eyes widened as he came face to face with a wall of water. A quick analytical glance told him that it was fed by the ocean.

"Oh my God!" Rodney screeched, and Lorne breathed.

They stood completely still, frozen in fear and the knowledge that there was no escape. The door was to far away, and the 'wall' was approaching to fast. Besides, with the ocean feeding it, the creature had an almost unending amount of water at it's disposal. It would follow them everywhere. Ronon shook his head. He wasn't one to just give up. He just needed an idea, just one idea… just…

And then it hit him.

"The holding cell!" he yelled.

"Yes!" McKay squaked. "It's got a force field. We should be safe there."

They were just about to move when a strange shout resounded through the hallway. Someone was spitting out a fast series of words in a strange language, and then his whole sight burst into flames quite literally.

Everything seemed to be burning until steam settled over them like fog.

"Hmm, she's gone. For now," a familiar voice told them.

**End of chapter 4!**

**A/N: Okay, this is the fourth chapter. I'm not exactly sure how many there will be, but I think we should be about half done. Please leave a comment, and tell me what you think.**

**(1) I've been made aware that you usually can't hear SGA characters' thoughts, and I haven't fogotten it, but I thought this exception would be allowed since we are already in John's mind, and he's part-Naruto-character.**


	5. Rescue

**The Need Has Always Been There**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any countries, cities, or organizations mentioned in this chapter.**

**Chapter 5: Rescue**

One second it was dark, and the next a bright light shone directly into his eyes. He blinked, and closed them again to shield his optic nerve from such a painful assault. Still, he could feel the tingling pain of being blinded run it's course to give him a major headache. It was typical. Hardly awake, and already in pain. Not that he wasn't used to it. After all, this wasn't his first barbeque.

A dark chuckle escaped him.

Waiting a few seconds, he relaxed his eyelids, so that his eyes could slowly adapt to the brightness of wherever it was he was, because unless Beckett had moved him to an operational table there was no way any light in the infirmary was this… bright. Carefully blinking a few times, he finally opened his eyes to the real world. At first all he saw was white, which was to be expected, then the contours slowly came into focus, allowing him to determine where he was.

The holding cell.

Frowning, he wondered if they knew something they shouldn't. If they'd found out, or someone had told them what was happening to him, and how he had been so very dangerous during his subconscious battle with himself. But then again, since they knew that the 'creatures' were after him, this was just the thing Elizabeth would do to keep him safe. That was probably it- had to be, because otherwise he would have to dispose of the expedition members.

People he'd come to care about- a lot more than he was supposed to…

Rule Number 25.

It had never been very difficult to respect that rule for him. Since he didn't have any family- aside from a cousin he'd never been allowed to talk to when they were kids because he was to be kept a secret from his cousin's murderous brother, and the rest of the shinobi world- and Hatake Kakashi wasn't exactly a very emotional person, he had few social contacts in the first place. Neji, with whom he'd gone onto the most two-man missions with, had probably known him best until he was about seventeen.

Then came Team 7.

Team 7 with it's strange little members, so intent to bring his cousin back to a home the boy had forsaken years before. He had almost laughed at the mere idea at first, but ever so slowly Naruto and Sakura and even Sai had wormed their ways into his heart, and made him believe. They had worn his defenses down, or so he would most likely argue, because the alternative explanation as to why he was so fond of these non-shinobi he was working with would be too shameful.

He was not growing soft!

His mouth twitched as if in defiance. That was when the noises reached him. It finally registered that he was alone in the holding cell, and even in the room that surrounded it, there was no one. Adding the weird noises from outside into the equation, the obvious conclusion was that something was very wrong. There should be someone in here, monitoring his state, and see if he was still alone in the holding cell.

Or maybe they hadn't thought it necessary…?

That would've been a very reasonable excuse, what with the force field that surrounded the bars, but it still didn't explain the groaning sounds, the gunfire, and why he was feeling such vast amounts of chakra being accumulated outside- somewhere down the hallway…

They were under attack.

The chakra was released.

A loud crash.

Then he heard voices.

"Oh my God!" Rodney screeched, and Lorne breathed.

This was not good. Whatever was happening outside was about to wipe out their lifes, judging by the amounts of energy someone put into it. He could sense only one person with elevated chakra levels, at least other than him. He needed to get this situation under control immediately before his friends got hurt, or even killed. Standing up, he tested his footing for a second, then 'poofed' quickly out of the cell. Activating his sharingan, he moved to the door, waving a hand infront of the panel so that it would open.

"The holding cell!" he could hear Ronon yelling from the outside.

"Yes!" came McKay's immediate answer. "It's got a force field. We should be safe there."

He could see them now, just about to move towards the cell, away from the giant 'water wall'. Bringing his hands together in a quick series of seals, he finished one of his favourite jutsu just in time.

"Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu," he shouted, lifted one hand to his mouth, and breathed fire to fight of the enemy's attack.

Everything seemed to be burning until steam settled over them like fog.

"Hmm, she's gone. For now," he mused as he scanned the steam with his sharingan, but that shadow of a figure he'd seen before was gone. His friends heads whipped around to face him, and their gazes spoke volumes. They didn't understand what had just happened, or how he was awake, and out of the freaking cell without someone there to open it for him. John put on one of the fakest smiles he'd ever given. "Hello!"

"What are y… You're awake… you're… how are you awake? What…"

"Deep breaths, Rodney, deep breaths, and you might actually string a sentence together in a little while," John mocked him, sticking to his false happy-go-lucky attitude.

"How did that ball of fire just appear?" Ronon asked, always the perceptive one, even if he didn't look the part.

"Better be glad it did," John replied a bit frostily, rubbing his temples as his headache subsided.

"And how did you get out of the cell?" Rodney had finally found his voice again.

"I asked Atlantis nicely?!" the Lt. Colonel suggested weakly. All he got for an answer were several dubiously raised eyebrows. Not that he could blame them. It was all rather unlikely, and apparently he'd become a bad liar in all this time he'd spent with these people. Instead of answering their unasked questions, or the 'you-got-to-be-kidding-me (us)' look, he moved to stand beside the hole in the city's outer wall, and whistled. "Wow! That's one big hole. The water came through it, right?"

"Yes, sir," major Lorne answered without thinking about it. He couldn't help it, he was a soldier. "We should go report this to Doctor Weir."

"Yeah, we should," John replied, not sounding very convinced or happy about it.

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(twenty minutes later, Conference Room)

"It was controlling the water?" Doctor Weir repeated slowly, obviously not sure whether to believe them- they'd seen a lot of strange things after all- or to make them take a drug test- it wouldn't be the first time a team had been under the influence of the effect of some plant or chemical.

"Yeah, it build a… 'bridge'," Teyla finally decided after struggeling for the word, "taking the water from the ocean below, and directing it into the city. It filled the entire hallway from the floor to the ceiling. Had it reached us, we would not have survived."

"What made it stop?"

Everyone fidgeted it their seats, chancing glances at the only- strangely- calm person in the room. John Sheppard was seated on Doctor Weir's right side as always, gazing at the ceiling with distinct indifference. He had completely changed attitude since joining them infront of the room with the holding cell. He'd gone from characteristicly happy to incredibly serious, and deadly calm in minutes.

Doctor Weir turned to look at him as well, but Sheppard showed no reaction other than a deep sigh. Seeing as their friend would not be of much help in this discussion, Teyla went back to explain as best as she could, what had happened to her, Ronon, McKay, and Lorne several levels below.

"Suddenly there was fire everywhere, and the water turned to steam, and when the fog had lifted the creature was gone."

"Gone?"

"That's what Colonel Sheppard said."

Elizabeth Weir turned to her second in command once more.

"John?" she prompted.

Another sigh, but at least he answered.

"I couldn't see anyone either, so I just assumed…" His tone was guarded.

"Did you see where that fire came from?" Weir asked him bluntly.

Sheppard's lips were suddenly pressed into a thin line as he refused to answer. Something was off about him, it was clear for everyone to see. It wasn't as if they had never seen him serious, but he'd never been so… deadly… about it. He looked like he was calculating something, their possibilities, or their enemy's next moves, or… something… His gaze was far away, even though he seemed to have followed their conversation. It looked a bit as if he was scrolling down a list in his mind…

That's when Chuck announced an incoming wormhole.

They hastened to the Gate Room, Sheppard following at a more thoughtful pace. The shimmering pool had just flickered into existence when they reached the top of the stairs. Chuck quietly informed them that it was General O'Neill who'd had the wormhole established, and Ronon could've sworn he saw Sheppard twitch at the mention of that name. Glancing back towards the Stargate, he made it just in time to watch as four people stepped through the even horizon. Lead by General O'Neill the other three, cloaked figures made their way over to them. Ronon instinctively grabbed for his gun, as did every other soldier in the room, even as O'Neill motioned for them to stand down. The Air Force general exchanged a couple of quiet words with his three companions. They nodded, and then zippers were pulled down so that they could shrug out of their coats.

The figures turned out to be two men with the strangest eyes- one pair as black as the night, the other the complete opposite- and one woman with bright pink hair…

**End of chapter 5!**

**A/N: This was the rescue from John's point of view just as he wakes up, and everyone's suspicious. What will happen next? Who are these newcomers? How can they help? Will the expedtion members ever find out what is going on? Find out in the upcoming chapters!**


	6. Newcomers

**The Need Has Always Been There**

Disclaimer: I don't own any countries, cities, or organizations mentioned in this chapter.

**Chapter 6****: Newcomers**

Lead by General O'Neill the other three, cloaked figures made their way over to them. Ronon instinctively grabbed for his gun, as did every other soldier in the room, even as O'Neill motioned for them to stand down. The Air Force general exchanged a couple of quiet words with his three companions. They nodded, and then zippers were pulled down so that they could shrug out of their coats.

The figures turned out to be two men with the strangest eyes- one pair as black as the night, the other the complete opposite- and one woman with bright pink hair…

While everyone was eyeing the newcomers warily, Ronon noticed Sheppard twitch almost imperceptively at the sight before him. He had himself under control again almost immediately, and the look in his eyes returned impassive. The satedan didn't take his gaze of his friend as the man slowly made his way over to where General O'Neill was practically whispering in Doctor Weir's ear. He came to a halt a little to the side of the two, causing the general to look up at him. Doctor Weir followed his line of sight after a moment. A startled look settled upon her features.

Sheppard hadn't taken his eyes off the strangers.

A quick glance told Ronon that the strangers were eyeing Sheppard as much as he was watching them. White and black eyes completely devoid of emotion, while a green pair sparkled attentively. A closer scrutiny revealed the strangers to be athletic, obviously training very hard each day just like he did. They also stood perfectly still which, judging by the uneasy shifting of feet all around, seemed to unnerve the rest of the expedition quite thoroughly.

A clap of hands redirected Ronon's attention to General O'Neill.

"Alright," the general announced once everyone else was looking at him as well. "I know that new faces can be very exciting, but I want everyone to go back to work."

Then he motioned for them to follow him to the Conference Room. The short trip was unnaturally quiet. The newcomers walked directly behind General O'Neill, who was flanked by Doctor Weir and Sheppard. Ronon himself followed on the strangers' heels, as did Teyla and Lorne. The knuckles of Lorne's hands were decidedly white. McKay trotted fidgetingly behind them, and Colonel Caldwell finished off their little formation. Once they reached the Conference room, and everyone had taken their seats while general O'Neill and his guests stood in the middle, and Sheppard leaned against a wall behind them, O'Neill clapped his hands again.

"These gentlemen-"

A cough. The first sound to pass a newcomer's lips.

"-and lady," general O'Neill amended quickly, "have been sent here to deal with your problem. They-"

At this point, McKay, apparently gaining some of his self-confidence, interrupted.

"Oh, and how are they going to do that? Have they ever dealt with aliens before?!" he mocked, irritated. "Judging by their ridiculous outfits I rather doubt it. Not to mention that hair. It's just…pink…"

A snarl escaped one of the strangers- the pink-haired woman. Ronon could see Teyla shake her head. One of the other newcomers, the man with deep black pools as his eyes, turned to her with an obviously fake smile, and shook his head. The only woman in their little group huffed, crossed her arms over her chest, and turned abruptly away from Rodney. Ronon raised an eyebrow at this curious behaviour. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Doctor Weir and major Lorne do the same.

"They're not aliens." That was Sheppard.

"Technically, they are. All of us are aliens here," General O'Neill mused.

Sheppard could be seen rolling his eyes in response.

"They're not aliens to Earth," he corrected his claim nonetheless.

"You mean… but…that's impossible. No one on Earth could… do that…" Apparently McKay had trouble relating what had happened to them.

"So, there is people on your world who can manipulate the elements," Teyla asked for clarification.

"Most people consider us a myth- or at least this particular part of our legend. There's no doubting our existence in the past, but to the present… we're a long-dead cult of warriors, mercenaries," John continued.

"You're saying 'us'," Doctor Weir noted.

Sheppard raised an eyebrow as if confused by this phrase. After a moment a small twitch in the corners of his lips betrayed the smile he was surpressing. He exchanged a look with General O'Neill, causing the higher ranking officer to move aside to make space for his Lieutenant Colonel. Raking a hand through his already messy hair, Sheppard made his way to the center of the room, and brought his hands together in a flurry of something Ronon couldn't make out.

Bringing to fingers to his lips he breathed through them, and out came…

…Fire…

Flames licked their way through thin air as John continued to empty his lungs. Everyone jumped from their seats, even though the flames didn't even brush the desk they were sitting at. Eyes wide, Ronon glanced around the room, finding the same confused and slightly scared look that must define his expression on the faces of everyone else. After a few more seconds, the fire stopped coming, and John raised himself from the angled position he'd crouched into, lips pressing together tightly, watching as everyone set down again.

"Us," was the only thing he said.

"Lt. Colonel John Sheppard doesn't exist." General O'Neill took the lead again as said man retreated back to his spot against the wall. "He's an invention. His entire history is made up, even his court-martial. We wanted to make sure that he would be as safe as possible, although we knew that he can take care of himself. In reality, John acts as a liaison with the United Nations. From his eigth's year of life, John grew up in a town called Konohagakure no Sato. His mother's home town in Japan. This village- which's name translates as the Village Hidden In The Leaves- is not your average country home as you may have guessed."

"No kidding," Lorne piped up, an incredulous expression on his face. "Sorry, sir."

"It's one of the Hidden Villages founded by shinobi, and they still live and work there to this day- and I've never given such a speech before," the General noted.

"What is a shinobi?" Ronon wanted to know.

"A soldier. A mercenary. According to legends their culture died about three hundred years ago, which was when they founded said villages. Before that time they had been roaming about. In these legends they're depicted as half-gods of war, magic users and the like, and no other class of warriors has ever been feared as much in the history of our world as the shinobi."

Surprisingly, it had been Doctor Weir who had answered.

"Are you trying to tell us that those stories are true, and that Ninja actually exist today?"

"What's a Ninja?" Ronon asked again.

"Another word for shinobi. They're also called Shadow Warriors," Doctor Weir answered without taking her eyes off Genereal O'Neill and his companions.

"Oh, but that's ridiculous." For once, McKay and Caldwell appeared to be of the same opinion as they exclaimed this together.

"You've seen it," Teyla reminded them, kicking loose a loud discussion about the credibility of this entire presentation. Ronon was only half listening, instead opting to watch as one of the newcomers moved to stand beside Sheppard. They grabbed each others elbows in a warrior greeting, exchanged a quick hug, and then turned to watch the show presented to them as the discussion grew louder still in the background. Ronon could see their lips move, and hear the strange words spilling out of their mouths as they talked.

A crash, and a quick glance later revealed a crater around the female stranger's fist that had been rammed into the wall. Doctor Weir, who had been trying to get everyone back to the problem at hand, could be seen throwing a grateful look at the pink-haired woman, even though it changed to concern and slight irritation as she eyed the damage to the wall. With a shake of his head, General O'Neill told them that the newcomers and Sheppard would take care of those people infiltrating Atlantis now.

"I'll inform my team," Lorne announced.

"Do that. Tell them to stay out of trouble," the black-eyed guy said with another fake smile.

"What?"

"You and your men are staying here, Lorne," Sheppard clarified, then turning to Ronon himself. "Same goes for you, big fellow, and you Teyla, and every other person who would prefer to fight."

"Colonel…" Caldwell didn't get more out before being interrupted.

"As you've been told I'm no real Lt. Colonel, so I don't have to take orders from you, so please spare your breath. Marines have already died during this whole affair-"

"While you were conveniently sleeping!" Caldwell barked.

"My sleeping was protecting you."

"From what?" McKay cried indignantly.

"From myself, Rodney. I'm like them, and there are times where…I am dangerous- more so than normally."

"When you say 'them'," Weir spoke up again, raising her eyes to meet his. "Who are 'they'?"

John exhanged a look with O'Neill, who nodded.

"They're ANBU. Ansastu Tenjutsu Tokushu Butai- which means more or less: Special Tactics and Assasination Squad. Shinigami, Death Gods, Angels of Death, the Grim Reaper- all those different culture's personifications of 'the End', they all have their origins in the same thing; the same kind of people."

He kept quiet for a moment then.

"They're Death, Elizabeth, and Death is not easily killed."

With that, General O'Neill ushered everyone from the room as John and Elizabeth continued to stare at each other as if it were an olympic discipline. Ronon left last, looking back towards his friends before exciting the room, and letting the doors shut on them. He glanced at Teyla who looked to be deep in thought, McKay was fidgeting again, and the pink-haired woman was starting a conversation with Doctor Beckett.

"I'm Haruno Sa- uh, no, sorry, you say your surnames last, right? So, I'm Sakura Haruno. I was sent as a medical officer. Could you show me the way to the infirmary, Doctor Beckett?" she asked politely, sheepishly scratching the back of her head.

"Of course, love," the good doctor replied in that friendly tone only he could manage.

And off they went.

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"Why didn't you tell me?"

"What was I supposed to say? You would've never believed me. Besides, I wasn't allowed to tell you."

"And now you are?"

"Well, Neji, Sai, and Sakura are here, so I suppose you've been granted clearance."

"Who?"

"It's their names. The white-eyed guy is Neji Hyuuga, an old friend of mind- distand cousin, too, if one believes the stories. Sai is the one who looks like a ghost, and gives everyone fake smiles. Don't take it personally, he doesn't really know how to feel emotion ever since he was little. Long sotry, don't ask. And I'm sure you can recognize Sakura by her bright pink hair, hence the name. If they're here, it means that Tsunade has given you some sort of clearance, not that she had much of a choice, what with the situation at hand… Speaking of which, I should go. I need a change of clothes, and then I have a hunt to take care of. Get everyone out of the hallways, and away from the windows. This is going to get nasty."

He was on his way to the door, hoping against hope that she'd just let it go. But Doctor Weir hadn't become one of the world's best diplomats by giving up when things became tough. In a matter of seconds, she had crossed the distance- she even jumped over the table, he could hear it- and grasped hold of his arm. Slowly, she turned him around to face her, looking directly into his eyes.

"Why do they want you?"

"I don't know. I honestly don't know... No surprise there considering the list of enemies I've made is rather long."

"Who are you?" she asked in a small voice, and he grimaced. "Was everything you did here a lie?"

"No. That was real too- except maybe the cheery attitude. A Shinigami doesn't have much to be cheery about," he answered quietly, leaving her standing there as he decided to pace the room. Rearranging his dishevelled hair again. "I've seen some fucked-up shit, Elizabeth. And sometimes… it just becomes too much, and I…"

"Is that why you fell into a coma?"

"I didn't 'fall into coma', Elizabeth," he replied with a dark chuckle. "I put myself in one, basically. It's a special sort of meditation for when we- people like me, Shinigami- become too dangerous for the people around them. When the animal in us tries to get a hold, and slaughter anything within a radius of many miles. That's why I refused at first, to come here, and I still don't know how Jack managed to persuade me… I really need to go!"

He needed to get out of there when she moved.

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An empty hallway, except for six people and two birds. One made of ink, and one settling on the shoulder of the man who summoned it. Dark black eyes, snowy-white ones, and a pair of deep red, tomoe swirling dangerously as they stared ahead to face three cloaked figures at the opposite end of the corridor.

"If we damage the city any further, McKay is gonna kill me," he said in a falsely light tone. "We should take this outside."

He could still remember how her lips felt on his.

**End of chapter 6!**

**A/N: What can I say. I like Sheppard/Weir, but I don't think there will be much more of it. I just had a dream about this scene, and decided to write it down. Please let me know what you think.**


	7. Fear Them Part 1

**The Need Has Always Been There**

Disclaimer: I don't own any countries, cities, or organizations mentioned in this chapter.

**Chapter 7: Fear Them**

The battle had been raging for about an hour now, and, despite John's warnings, Elizabeth had been thus far unable to resist the temptation of looking out the window, prompting everyone else to do the same. Once having laid eyes on the scene, no one had been able to turn their back on the fight again. The battle was fierce. Fire, and ice, and water, and lightning clashed out there in the sea. A storm had brewed, whether by natural causes or as part of someone's attack strategy could not be told but cold drops of rain was pouring down on the tiny group of people one could just make out between the waves. They seemed to be floating on them as they charged each other in close combat, twirling through the air in complicated saltos.

Another wave of electricity.

The windows crashed.

Screams.

Elizabeth shivered as she found her world to consist of violence, and magic. An arms came around her, making her look up to Jack O'Neill. His expression was slightly worried, and confident at the same time. He drew her closer until she was pressed into his side, and, dropping the picture perfect of the fearless leader, she tried to disappear in it like a frightened child. Taking a look around, she noticed several other expedtition members clinging to each other in similar ways. These brave people who had faced so many terrible things head-on, were now on the brink of a nervous breakdown if the trembles that wrecked their bodies was any indication.

"It's because they're from Earth," General O'Neill murmured in her direction.

She looked up at him.

"They're so frightened because it's like they don't know their own world," he explained further. "And if they don't know the Earth, how can they fight the danger that's out here. I know because I went through the same thing when they introduced me to John and his world of… bones and blood and witchcraft(1)."

"That's not what scares me. It's…I… I just feel so…"

"Helpless?" Jack suggested.

Elizabeth nodded against his side, opting to look out the non-existand window again.

"Me too."

That admission startled Elizabeth somewhat as she whipped her head around to face him.

"What if they don't make it?" she suddenly asked. "What happens then?"

"They'll die."

Her hands gripped Jack's shirt tightly.

"And the others?"

"Hopefully, they'll just leave. They probably will since their mission would be accomplished," General O'Neill mused. "They'd take the bodies with them, I guess. The body of a shinobi holds many secrets they don't want to get into the wrong hands but a dead shinobi cannot protect those secrets anymore, so…"

"So…?"

General Jack O'Neill stayed quiet for a long time. Elizabeth watch him watch the battle that continued without fail as their conversation came to an awkward interruption of silence. The diplomat risked a glance out at the battlefield, finding two giant dragons, one made of water, one of John's fiery breath, face off in the storm. They crashed into each other soon enough, sending waves of haze across the ocean far enough to envelop even the outskirts of the Lost City.

"If… If it becomes apparent that they will ultimately loose this fight, they'll probably use one of the many suicide technigues they know that will destroy their bodies as well," Jack finally replied. "Knowing John, he'd prefer to die in his own flames, instead of being expedimented on like a guinea pig- even if he'd be dead by the time they do so. Although… his family trait is so rare they might prefer to keep him alive."

"As a lab rat."

No question there.

"Oh, yes," Jack answered anyway.

Another moment of silence.

"Do you think they'll make it?"

Jack turned to look at her, shifting a it in unease.

"I've read their files. They have an exceptional track record, all of them. The problem is that we don't know anything about the other ones but by the looks of it I'd say: so have they. It seems to be a very even match. We'll just have to wait and see, I'm afraid."

Elizabeth nodded. Turning back to the happenings outside, she watched as a giant bird rose from the watery grounds. A figure jumped atop it's back, and sailed into the heavens with it. She could see two more figures beating a hasty retreat just as the bird gave one powerful flap with it's wings, and something pointy, something black and shiny sped towards the ocean. The three remaining fighters jumped out of the way, or tried to deflect the attack but one appeared to be hit anyway, seeing as he or she sank to his or her knees.

One of the two that had previously retrated out of the way of the assault, decided to use this to his advantage, and charged the kneeling opponent. A fight ensued. Everyone raced towards the battling pair but they only managed to block each other's path, and a minute later a corpse was swallowed by the raging seas.

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One dead, two more to go.

John's gaze followed the body of his enemy sink into the depths of the ocean for a moment, and got hit by a stray shuriken immediately. Hissing at the pain as it slashed his side open, he turned just in time to find Sai's bird dissolving into droplets of ink after getting hit by another Water Dragon. The dragon made it through the bird to his friend, enveloping him. Almost unable to move, Sai was trying to get free but in vain. The water was to heavy, pressing onto his chest and the air out of his lungs.

John was about to move but Neji reached their friend before him. Using the Empty palm, the Hyuuga blew the water away long enough to drag Sai out of the immediate danger. Exchanging a glance with him, Neji hreaded off towards the city in order to reach Sakura for medical attention. One of them was going after them. John moved to stop him but the last one got in the way.

Each of them drew a kunai. Metal clashed, the roar of the ocean as a background barely filtering through the rush of blood in his ears. Circling each other, waiting for the perfect moment to attack. Waiting, hoping for the other to get lazy, to not pay all due attention but it wasn't going to happen, and so they clashed again and again. Kunai thrown, shattered at the force of the impact with the other blade, they drew their swords.

John charged his katana with his chakra, the lightning enveloping the blade just as Sasuke had showed him. He watched his enemy do essentially the same, although his sword glistened in his chakra's blue hue. It was meant to block the electricity from being transferred when their blades touched. Still, all John neeeded was one good hit, and the man would get electrocuted. As if the final layout of his strategy had been a signal they charged again, clash after clash, and sparks flew between them.

Sometimes they would retreat, only shortly, to execute some of their ninjutsu but it was a moot point when they did. Fire and water did not mix, one was not going to overpower the other, and John's lightning technigues would not be of much help outside of charging the blade either. A light sheet of chakra was enveloping them both to protect them from the numbing coldness of the rain by repelling it's droplets. It would not be hindered to do so even if the rain were charged with tiny bolts of electricity, and it would just be foolish to waste more chakra in an all-out attack his adversary would probably dodge anyway.

This battle would be ended by the blade of a knife(2).

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Neji had spotted his pursuer with his Byakugan right away. Instead of fighting him, the Hyuuga just continued running until he was in teleporting distance. With a 'poof' he appeared where he could feel Sakura's chakra signature. Of course, the other man was not far behind. The moment he appeared, Neji hit him straight in the chest, sending him flying through the window, and out into the cold.

"That was a bit too easy, don't you think?" Sakura commented suspiciously.

"Indeed…" Gazing after the falling corpse, he soon had to watch it dissolving. "A water clone."

Neji whipped around, and not a moment later jumped out of the way of three kunai coming at him from the dead angle of his otherwisely perfect sight. While most of the expedition's medical personnel was shocked into a stillness that could rival that of a statue, Sakura and Dr. Beckett were already working on getting the water out of Sai's lungs, and healing the damage that was done to them. Meanwhile, Neji was pursueing their attacker while at the same time trying to remain between him, and his friends always.

Another set of kunai, repelled by Neji's Kaiten.

Some medical equipment 'stabbed', and destroyed.

Blood cans ripped open, leaving a mess on the floor.

A very feminine, and very well-known yelp as someone slipped on the red liquid.

And that angry growl that inevitably followed.

**End of chapter 7!**

**A/N: Okay, I'm gonna leave you hanging here for the time being. Sorry, but I don't want it to be all over quite yet. ******** Please review, and tell me what you think.**

**(1) A quote from a Doctor Who episode. I don't own it, unfortunately…**

**(2) Again, I showed a bit of insight on John's thoughts. I consider this 'legal', even though you don't usually know what's going on in Stargate-character's heads, because in this story he's part-Naruto-character. Please don't kill me!**


	8. Fear Them Part 2

**The Need Has Always Been There**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything but the idea for this story.

**Chapter 8: Fear Them (Part 2)**

"A water clone."

Neji whipped around, and not a moment later jumped out of the way of three kunai coming at him from the dead angle of his otherwisely perfect sight. While most of the expedition's medical personnel was shocked into a stillness that could rival that of a statue, Sakura and Dr. Beckett were already working on getting the water out of Sai's lungs, and healing the damage that was done to them. Meanwhile, Neji was pursuing their attacker while at the same time trying to remain between him, and his friends always.

Another set of kunai, repelled by Neji's Kaiten.

Some medical equipment 'stabbed', and destroyed.

Blood cans ripped open, leaving a mess on the floor.

A very feminine, and very well-known yelp as someone slipped on the red liquid.

And that angry growl that inevitably followed.

With one swift motion Neji had made it behind his enemy. As expected, the ANBU jumped back a bit so as not to get into the range of his Juuken. This move brought him closer to the medical party still working on Sai that Neji had been defending with such fierceness. Before the ANBU's feet hit the floor, a distinct scrunching noise could be heard from where Sakura's fist made contact with the man's right shoulder blade, making it splinter. A cry of pain shook the room that made even the two battle-hardened shinobi shudder.

The man was sent flying towards Neji who was awaiting him with his chakra-charged hand. The Anbu twisted away but it was no use. With the Juuken Style all Neji needed was one touch, even just a brush across a the general area of a vital organ, and his hand hit the man's liver. The full force of the Hyuuga's chakra coursed through the organ, tearing it apart as Neji watched with his Byakugan.

Another cry and then there was silence…

"Remind me to stay on your good side," someone said, voice weak, and strained from the effort.

Neji looked up as Sakura turned around. Sai had woken up, and was holding himself weakly on one elbow while Dr. Beckett was trying desperately to get him to lie down once more. The pink-haired medic was by their comrade's side in an instant, just as General O'Neill burst through the door with the rest of John's team, and Dr. Weir following on his tail. Neji retreated into the furthest corner from them.

"You can start by not getting up until I say you can," Sakura meanwhile informed the former Root agent sternly. The young man gave another fake smile that almost seemed real this time, and did as he was told. He immediately lost consciousness again. Neji raised an eyebrow at his female partner on this mission, having noticed that tad bit of chakra that put Sai into a coma. Sakura just shrugged noncommitingly.

"What happened here?" O'Neill wanted to know.

"Yeah, sorry about the mess," Sakura piped up exasperately. "One of our comrades needed medical attention, so Neji brought him here. Unfortunately, one of them followed, and started throwing kunai all around. We disposed of him."

With a nod towards the body, the pink-haired medic returned to the tast at hand. Her hand started to glow green as she began to heal the damage Sai's lungs took. She meant to move around to stand behind his head but slipped on the blood-covered floor again, landing on her behind with a yelp. Grumbling, she raised herself off the floor for the second time that day, and barked at one of the nurses to get a mop, and 'clean up the mess already'.

"Slipped on blood, twice. You call yourself a kunoichi, woman," Neji chuckled at her, earning himself a growl, and a glare. "…Yeah, I…uhm… better go look how John's doing."

And he beat a hasty, smoke-covered retreat.

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_(meanwhile out on the sea)_

Things weren't looking to good as the storm grew more powerful and violent with every minute, and there was no ending in sight for the fighting pair. Their chakra kept them above the waves but it wouldn't protect them from the lightning that began glittering across the sky. It hadn't struck the ocean yet but that was only a matter of time, and lightning type or not, even John couldn't survive a direct hit.

Unless he got very lucky like some people.

But luck was the least frequent companion of a shinobi.

At the moment they were locked into a battle of brute force, blade against blade, trying to push it closer to the other's throat. The ANBU dug out a set of shuriken from his little weaponry bag, and threw it at him. John quickly detached himself from the immediate battle, and jumped back. He countered the attack with a couple of kunai but he was running low on weapons now…

Then again, so was his enemy… probably…

Turning the sword in order for the blade to face downwards, the Uchiha unleashed a quick series of seals he doubted the other was really capable of seeing them. Still, the ANBU was not the target he had chosen for his _Hosenka no jutsu_, instead he aimed the small fireballs at the sea all around them, raising a wall of mist from what could become his watery grave if he didn't do something soon.

Hidden by the haze, and masking his chakra signature, John let himself sink into the ocean slowly, careful not to make a sound even as the icy coldness of the water tingled and burned on every inch of his skin. Still, his training served him well at this moment, only a continued shivering, and one or two heavy breaths escaping him before he was fully engulfed by the waves. Mindful of the sharp object he was holding, John began to swim towards his unsuspecting victim. The man had taken a few steps away from the foam in case the Uchiha decided to jump at him, trying to surprise him.

Once John had positioned himself underneath his enemy, he slid his sword out of the water silently, and cut at his heel. The ANBU, his leg not supporting him anymore, crumbled onto his knees. Quickly, so as not to miss his chance, John rammed his blade straight out of the water, aiming at the man's chest but, having realized the Uchiha's plan, the shinobi managed to roll himself sideways, and out of harm's way. Cursing under his breath, John managed to use this prescious time to heave himself out of the water, and charge his enemy in a straight-forward attack once more.

All he hit was steel!

The man's fighting spirit and skill had to be admired. Despite being gravely injured, and thus unable to even stand securely, he still managed to hold up his perfect defense, not letting up for one moment. No slip, no opening, no nothing. John ducked and turned and charged in the most complicated pattern but the man's defense would not waver. Charged with chakra, the blades practically created fireworks whenever they met between their bodies. Then the ANBU jumped, turning and twisting in the air, a green spark glinting for a second, and then he landed on his feet.

Both of them.

John sighed in annoyance. The ANBU flew threw a couple of seals, the Uchiha following them without problems as the tomoe spun over the bloody background his iris provided. Knowing what was coming next just from watching the other man's hands, hhe was not surprised when a column of water was aiming straight for him. Amplifying the lightning chakra on his blade he cut right through it, only to find the ANBU already on him. He had hidden behind the jutsu, and waited for the right moment to attack.

Only barely did John manage to evade his assault but the man was right behind him, so that he had to run. Ther man followed, gaining on him until John suddenly stopped, thus making the man rush past him. This time it was John who pursued just as the ANBU stopped in midtrack in order to turn around. John aimed at his chest, and the man was ready to block, his sword raised.

At the last second before their blades clashed, John ducked, swirling on the water, the point of his katana tracing pattern in the ocean, and then leaving a bloody gash right across the other man's stomach. A gurgling sound fell from the ANBU's lips, and then another once John had rammed his blade right through the immobile man's heart. They stayed like that for a minute when a loud 'poof' could be heard.

Unsure as to who had won the other battle, and unable to find any chakra signature, John's grip on his katana tightened, and he yanked it back out of the ANBU's body. Still the man's body would not fall, although John could see him slowly loosing control over his chakra, dropping into the ocean a little deeper every time. Footsteps approached them. John turned the blade in his hand, ready to strike. Then he saw a bare hand slightly pushing at the ANBU's body, and finally it fell. The hand grabbed hold of it, and a familiar voice mumbled something about identities, and village secrets, and an autopsy.

And John relaxed.

"Took you long enough," he grumbled.

"You're one to talk," he heard Neji replying as the Hyuuga steadied the body layed over his shoulder. "Let's go. Sakura will want to take a look at those bruises."

"Yeah…"

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_(in the infimary)_

Sakura was just through with healing up Sai when she could her next bit of work arriving with two loud 'poofs', and lots of coughing from the civilians. Dispelling the smoke with one hand, she grabbed hold of John, and yanked him over to the next free bed. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could make out Neji laying the second dead corpse beside the first one. The body of female member of the ANBU team was lost in the ocean. A quick glance outside told her that the storm was getting worse, and her ears perked up as Doctor Weir gave instructions to raise the shield.

Then she heard footsteps approaching them.

"How is he?"

"I'm fine," John replied automatically, if a little tired.

"I think she asked me," Sakura told him before turning to Doctor Weir. "A few cuts and bruises, and a gash or two but nothing too serious. She should be up and about by tomorrow. Although, knowing him, he'll try to sneak away tonight while no one is looking, so I'm going to put him into a chakra-enduced sleep."

"Now that's not necessary," John tried to complain but Sakura cut him off.

"Are you a medic now? You need bed rest, a good night's sleep, and I know you well enough to know that you won't go along with that willingly, so hush…"

"A little help here, Elizabeth?"

Said woman smiled.

"Sure… you do whatever you deem necessary," she told Sakura, smile widening into a smirk.

"Thank you, because frankly, the sooner he gets better, the sooner we can go home."

The wince that wrecked John's body for a second, and the expression of shock and hurt crossing Doctor Weir's face for but a second could not go unnoticed by the pink-haired medic but she did not comment.

"…home…" John whispered, a wave of contricting emotion clear on his face.

Sakura smiled, and patted him on the arm with a chakra-laced hand. John's eyes shut instantly.

**End of chapter 8!**

**A/N: Okay, one more chapter to go. I'm almost sorry it's over... Anyway, I hope you liked it. Please review!**


	9. Goodbye, and don't be long!

**The Need Has Always Been There**

Disclaimer: I don't own any countries, cities, or organizations mentioned in this chapter.

**Chapter 9: Goodbye, and don't be long!**

Twenty-four hours later, Dr. Weir had succeeded to drive the entire expedition mental with her edgy behaviour. Not that anyone could blame her. The Atlantis Team was about to lose their military commander- even if he had been a fake- and a good friend. Many members of the expedition had been seen bidding their farwells to a sleeping Colonel Sheppard that night, making the pink-haired woman sigh in frustration. Doctor Beckett had revealed that she had muttered comments throughout both autopsies on how ridiculously sentimental that was, and how she had thankfully grown out of it a long time ago. The other two shinobi, as General O'Neill had called them, had kept their silent stances; the white-eyed one in the far corner of the infirmary, the other one awake in his bed, not allowed to move under threats of great physical pain from their female companion. General O'Neill had been awake all night as well, waiting for the two very different doctors to finish up the examinations of the enemy bodies, and file a report.

"They, obviously, had no ID with them but I recognized one of them from the battlefield, and I think I know why they were after John with a vengeance," Sakura was just finishing her report.

Both General O'Neill and Doctor Weir raised an eyebrow.

"ANBU Squads tend to be composed of four members, thus allowing them to split up into two groups easily," the pink-haired kunoichi elaborated, and then continued at receiving a nod of understanding, "A couple of years back- shortly before John was reasigned to act as a liaison with the United Nations- there was a bit of a power struggle between the Five Great Shinobi Nations, and it escalated between the Leaf and the Mist, where those three came from. There were a couple of clashes at the time, involving mostly shinobi of higher rank sent to guard the borders."

"That still doesn't explain…"

"I'm getting there, Doctor Weir, but you need to know the basic history to understand," Sakura interrupted her before she could even finish her thought. "You see, there's always been a… shall we say, more radical animosity between the Mist and the Leaf, so those 'clashes' tended to be more like all-out-battles- mini-wars if you so will! One of the shinobi sent by the Mist to do a bit of recon on our territory was Makoto Tsubaru, a very promising young Ninja who had been nominated for the position of Rokudaime Mizukage some time before."

"The 'kage' are like the mayors of their villages, except they've got an army of Ninja under them. They're the absolute bosses of their countries shinobi forces," O'Neill interjected before any misunderstanding could come up with Elizabeth.

"Okay… so…" The woman's expression was still confused.

"Makoto had good chances of actually becoming the Sixth; none of the other candidates were even close to his level of skill. He was like the Mist's version of Konoha's Yellow Flash… mentioned in the same breath as the White Fang, or the Copy Nin."

"…"

"Oh, sorry," the younger woman apologized. "I forgot that those titles mean nothing to you. But that doesn't matter; you understand the concept. In the shinobi countries everyone knows who those people are, especially in Konoha, and, by extention, the Mist. They were our most ardorous enemies after all. So anyway, this guy, barely a man yet by your standards, had the best chances of becoming the leader of his people…"

"And then he met John…" Jack suggested, heaving a sigh as if he knew what would come next.

"On the recon, yeah… Being one of our own, John didn't exactly appreciate the guy's effort to gather intelligence. He was a trespasser, and trespassers are killed on sight during times of war, or near-war. Battle ensued."

"And John killed this…boy," Elizabeth stated.

"It was kill, or be killed but yes, he did."

"And these people?" Caldwell butted in for the first time since the conversation started.

"They were his team, I think. They'd probably split into two groups, and were unfortunate enough to encounter an Uchiha, a Sharingan-bearer. All there technigues useless, Makoto still stayed to fight. The other one- I don't know his name- had to stay too, and back him up because of that decision."

"And you know this…because?" Jack wanted to know.

"I was John's team medic. I was with him at the time, and fought the other, and his mask broke. I got a glimpse of his face before... After John killed Makoto, the other one quickly retreated. I never heard of him again until now. John was reasigned, and thereby basically taken off the record…" she answered, then turned to Elizabeth adding as if as an afterthought, "We don't care much for anything outside home, you see?! We rarely get missions that bring us overseas, since most of you think that we're extinct."

"And you like it that way?"

"Yes," Sakura responded decisively. "Although, sometimes we get called to protect some of the high-ups but always under the cover of official UN troups."

"I see."

Elizabeth had barely gotten the words out of her mouth when Carson arrived with news from the infirmary. Of course, John had disappeared as soon as he was awake and sure that no one was looking. Sai had apparently not bothered to tell anyone about the Colonel's new condition, and Neji had even disappeared alongside with him. To this, Sakura only sighed, explaining that they were probably sitting on some rooftop in companionable silence, and that those were just their antics.

Jack nodded, then shook his head at their slightly erratic notions before disappearing down a hallway towards the cafeteria. The pink-haired kunoichi excused herself to look after her last remaining patient, and Carson accompanied her to further the exchange of medical opinions. Teyla and Ronon had gone off to help the Athosians on the Main Land first thing in the morning, and McKay who had yet to say a word, shifted on their feet as if unsure as to what to do. There was nothing left to say, no one in the medical bay to visit, and no real damage from the storm to deal with- at least not in the city itself. Casting a look at his boss, he made up some feeble excuse and went to check his lab. Caldwell went back to normal duty almost immediately, although his voice sounded slightly flustered as he, too, excused himself.

Elizabeth gave a curt nod, then turned the other way to walk on her own route. A route that led her to the door to John's quarters. Without ringing the bell, she entered. Her gaze swept through the room, noticing how everything seemed to have a place, and every place seemed to have it's thing. The atmosphere was odd but homey, and it would soon all be gone. She couldn't miss the bag lurking out from underneath John's bed. Soon it would be stashed with his clothes, and he would leave Atlantis for the nhext military commander to protect.

"Which could be Caldwell," Elizabeth muttered tiredly to herself. "They did try to put him in charge after that first attack on the city by the Wraith."

At that prospect, she dug her face into the matress.

Soon enough, she was asleep.

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(meanwhile, on some rooftop)

A stormy breaze whizzed past, caressing their faces and playing with the odd strand of hair. The sky was clearing, and the cloudes had lost the angry shade of dark grey the storm had given them sometime during the night but it was still chilly, and therefore a good thing that Neji had insisted for John to put on some clothes before going off to find them some solitude. Solitude with two. An odd concept but then again, what was a shinobi's life if not odd. Definitely not average. Not normal. Not sitting at some desk to file out the paperwork of some higher ups. Not flying General This or Secretary That over the ice.

Working for Doctor Weir… maybe.

"You want to stay," Neji suddenly spoke up without really breaking the silence, and it was a statement. There was no question, and no hesitation, no accusation in the way he said it; he wasn't judging, merely mentioning a fact.

"Wouldn't you?" John asked back in the same hushed tones.

"It is a wonderful city…" the Hyuuga admitted.

"…"

"But that is not what you meant."

"…no… I…" he struggled with the words for a little minute but Neji only waited patiently for him to finish. "I hate being condemmed to do nothing. I'm a shinobi, and all I do is sit around in McMurdo, or play shuttle service. I'm not a taxi driver, and I never wanted to be. I was bored out of my mind before this chance came along, and even then, knowing the risks for me but mostly for the others should I ever snap, I was ready to let it slip away."

Neji didn't respond.

"But now I am here. Tsunade-hime allowed me to come here, and I'm happy… well, not happy but content. I like my job again. It's nothing compared to home but then again, nothing ever is. It's nice, though. I like it. I like the people, and I don't want to let it go."

"It's not your decision," Neji reminded him.

"I know, I know."

"You could always talk to Hokage-sama; ask her to let you stay… but, John… you know that… that you'll probably have to come back again one day, anyway, right? You're still on The List. Second or third choice."

John bit back a groan.

"I asked her to scratch me from that. It's not a position I want. Besides, there's always Kakashi, and you- hell, even Naruto! He'd jump at the chance."

Neji chuckled at the near-desperation in his friend's voice.

"You'd really not consider becoming Hokage?"

"Would you?" John asked back.

"You don't get payed nearly enough for that job," the Hyuuga joked, making his friend smile for the first time since he'd woken up in the medical bay. Neji answered with a smirk of his own before turning back towards the calming ocean. There was nothing left to say for now, their conversation was over, and so the comfortable silence, that had never quite disappeared, settled between them once more.

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(later)

There was a dip in the matress. That was what woke her up. Along with a soft, gentle voice calling her name, and a warm hand on her shoulder shaking her ever so carefully. Opening her eyes, Elizabeth took in her surroundings, not regocnizing the personalized, light blue bedcovers she was lying on top off. Shooting up into a sitting position as quick as a bolt of lightning came back to bite her seconds later when her vision blacked for a second. Her hand raised, she held her head for a few seconds until everything became clear again.

"Ah…" the voice was back. "Back from La-la-land I take it?"

"Huh?" was the most intelligible sound that her throat could muster.

"I'd straighten out that hair of yours, otherwise someone will come to the wrong conclusions when they see you leave my quarters in the evening- all flustered and ruffled," the voice teased. It came from the bathroom, Elizabeth noticed the light shining there. Then she heard steps, and soon John was standing infront of her, holding out a glass of water to her with a gentle smile.

"Thanks," she murmured as she took it. "And I'm sorry. I didn't realize I had fallen asleep."

"Of course not," he replied, waving the apology away with his hand. "You'd have to have been conscious to realize you were asleep, which is impossible in the first place as sleep is a state of unconsciousness."

She couldn't seem to help the smile but the seriousness returned to her face almost immediately when she saw the bag sitting beside her on the bed now. She watched him for a moment, looking on as he moved forth and back between his closet and the bed. An uneasy shudder went through her body at the sight. It made him hesitate for but a moment, then he just went on as if he hadn't seen.

"You're really going, aren't you?"

"You really don't want me to answer that, do you, Elizabeth?" John questioned. "You know the answer already. Please don't make me say it. It's hard enough as it is."

His voice had grown tired; weary. He wasn't anymore pleased about this outcome than she was. His lips pressed together into a tight line, he refused to look at her as he kept on packing. She asked if there was anything she could do, if he would stay if she asked him to but he could only shake his head, reminding her how little choice he had in this. He said down beside her, and waited patiently as she contemplated, biting her lower lip. After another few seconds, Elizabeth's arms encircled his waist and his went around her shoulders. Her face pressed into his chest, and his lips landed on her hair, whispering soft comforts at her.

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(next day, Gateroom)

It looked like the entire expedition had gathered into the now very crowded Gateroom to see General O'Neill and the three strangers off, their (former) military leader, for now replaced by Major Lorne, alongside them. The man they knew as Lt. Colonel Sheppard wasn't wearing his standard BDUs when he ventured into the Gateroom, and walked up to the General. He had exchanged the american military attire for a pair of fitting black pants that ended somewhere underneath his just-as-black boots. He was wearing the same sleeveless shirt he'd worn the day this mess first started, and the leather straps were back in place around his upper arms along with that object the other shinobi used as a headband. Additionally, he had put on metal-enhenced gloves that were cut off at the first knuckle of his fingers.

His eyebrows raised at the sight of the send-off committee before his lips turned upward in a smile. He got promptly enveloped in a giant bear-hug once he passed Ronon, then said goodbye to Teyla by the traditions of her people, and watched McKay shift and shuffle while searching for something to say. John gave the scientist a smile, and patted his friend's arm. Then he moved to stand besides the only other american travelling back home that day.

"Dial the Gate," General O'Neill said evenly.

They were then approached by Doctor Weir.

"He can't stay," Sai spoke up before anyone else had the chance to. His fake smile in place, and still as easily to see through as ever. Sakura's head shot up to smack first her own forehead, then the back of her teammates head for being rude. At receiving the other man's apparently confused expression, Neji just shook his head like someone who'd just found a five-year old with his hand in the cookie jar.

"I know," Elizabeth answered once the commotion was over. "I just wanted to say goodbye, and- in the name of all of us- don't be long."

Her warm, slightly hopeful smile was returned before the Stargate sprang to life. Sakura dragged Sai through before the black-haired Root Agent could say anything else that might offend someone. Neji followed with an obvious reluctance at getting involved in this endless dance of his two friends, still shaking his head. Only General O'Neill stayed to witness the affectionate, almost intimate hug between the expedition leader and her- former- as he had to remind himself- 2IC. Clearing his throat to draw their attention while he could distinctly hear hushed 'awws' resounding through the Gateroom from here and there, Jack pointed at the bright puddle.

With another short hug, and the promise of talking to his Kage- the promise of Hope- John stepped through the event horizon.

**End of chapter 9!**

**A/N:Hmm, maybe I'll write an epilogue... Or maybe not. What do you think? Should I give it another finishing touch, or should I leave it the way it is? Leave a review, and take control! ;)**


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